According to Cobb County police, there have been 59 car accidents at the intersection of Hiram, Gaydon and Florence roads since 2021.
COBB COUNTY, Georgia. – An intersection in Cobb County near the Paulding County border is considered dangerous by neighbors and drivers alike.
We’re talking about the area where Hiram, Gaydon and Florence streets meet.
Cobb County police said they have been called to 59 accidents at the intersection since 2021, including one on Saturday.
“All I could say was, ‘Thank you, God,’ that I was alive,” said Keyera Williams.
Williams was one of the drivers involved in the crash. She said she came to the intersection, stopped at the stop sign, looked both ways and started crossing the street. She said she did not see the truck coming.
“Because of the blind side, they said, you can’t always see them, especially when the car is going pretty fast,” Williams said.
The intersection is currently a two-way stop sign intersection. The person who collided with Williams did not have a stop sign and right of way. Williams says police gave her a warning, but she believes the intersection is unsafe.
FOX 5 obtained accident statistics from Cobb County Police and found that there have been 15 accidents at the intersection of Hiram, Gaydon and Florence roads so far this year. The same statistics show that there have been 59 accidents since 2021.
“This is something that could be prevented,” Williams said. “59 car accidents is a lot.”
“There are car accidents all the time,” said Bethany Reason.
Reason has lived near the intersection for at least a decade and has witnessed a number of accidents over the years. She believes the county should build a roundabout or convert it to an intersection with four stop signs to prevent these accidents.
“What they’ve done isn’t working,” Reason said. “So they put up some extra signs a little further out, but accidents are still happening.”
Although Williams has some bruises, she says she is OK and hopes she can save others.
“My fear and the reason I spoke out was that I don’t want anyone to have to die for someone to do something,” she said.
FOX 5 Atlanta reached out to Cobb County. A spokesperson issued the following statement:
“Cobb DOT recently received $950,000 in grant funding for a safety project at this intersection. These improvements are currently in the planning stages and construction is scheduled to begin in summer 2025. In the meantime, staff has installed additional edge-lit signs, removed vegetation to improve visibility, and provided enhanced warnings for drivers. We have been closely monitoring the intersection to measure the effectiveness of these countermeasures. Since they have not sufficiently reduced the number of crashes, the department is asking the board at the September 10 meeting for approval to install an all-way stop station.”
The county has a new program to help with problem intersections. Click here to learn more.
